You haven’t had omakase until you’ve had the Experiential Tasting Menu at Morgenstern’s Sundae Bar. Yes, you heard us, omakase served in the middle of an ice cream shop.
And it’s absolutely brilliant.
Award-winning architect Stephanie Goto and Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream, a New York-based ice cream parlor, are collaborating on an elevated ice cream-infused omakase experience inspired by the latest Plénitude 2 release from Dom Pérignon champagne.
As of July 20th, the omakase menu will be available once a week, by reservation only, at the Morgenstern’s Sundae Bar on 88 Houston via Resy. The à la carte pairings will be available each Tuesday from 12 PM-10 PM by reservation.
Celebrating the release of Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 Plénitude 2 and National Ice Cream Day on July 18, the limited-run tasting menu is a storytelling journey, presented in three acts and titled Elevated Expansion.
Told through Goto’s distinctly Japanese lens, the progression highlights the unexpected and shared linearities between champagne and ice cream.
Centered around energy, space, and time, the menu curates and reimagines ingredients from Stephanie’s heritage, elevating traditional dishes to their second Plénitude.
Through this magical experience, guests are transported out of their everyday lives, and into a type of sensory oasis. Diners are encouraged to close their eyes and embrace the beautiful stillness of the here and now.
For a few short moments, you forget that you’re sitting in one of the most bustling neighborhoods in New York City. Skyscrapers, street signs, and subways have never felt so far away.
“This experience with Stephanie Goto and Nick Morgenstern creates and recounts a shared story. It takes us to unexpected spaces where amazing emotions reveal themselves, challenging us to totally rethink the realm of possible experiences. It opens up an entirely new dimension of Plénitude,” says Vincent Chaperon of Dom Pérignon.
Through her longtime friendship with chef-turned-ice-cream innovator Morgenstern, and her love of the legendary champagne house Dom Pérignon, Goto was able to create this revolutionary seven-course menu pairing concept.
The chemistry between these two creative geniuses is undeniable, which makes for an even more intimate and cohesive experience, all of which is tied together through their appreciation of champagne.
Goto collaborated with Morgenstern to incorporate their favorite and nostalgic ingredients—tamago, soy sauce, sushi rice, and dashi—to narrate a one-of-a-kind journey connecting America and France, East and West, high and low in a revelatory way.
Described as an “introspection tri-culture exploration,” the first course of gelèe pyramids with flavors with citrus and salinity represents the convergence of America, France, and Japan.
The prisms are a stunning metaphor for the three different cultural perspectives that quite literally, reflect off of one another. The first course sets the tone for the remaining six courses.
The menu will also feature à la carte offerings of a caviar trompe l’oeil ice cream cone featuring Russian River Imperial Caviar paired with a glass Dom Pérignon Vintage 2010, a delightful ‘toro burger’ paired with a glass of Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2006, and a prismatic matcha and red bean sundae cube paired with Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2 Vintage 2003.
Themes of horizontality, verticality, the dichotomy between darkness and light, and time and space transformation are also explored throughout this once-in-a-lifetime culinary voyage.
“Creating this experience utilized a parallel process to how I approach architecture and the sensorial. My vision is inspired by materials, textures, forms and presenting them in a familiar yet transformed way. The story is focused on something quintessentially American—ice cream—meeting something quintessentially French—champagne—and knitted together through my lens of Japan,” said Goto.
The Elevated Expansion Menu comes at a high cost of 360 dollars. But at the risk of sounding cliche, this transformative experience is priceless.
Plus, you get a minimum of seven glasses of champagne, so that’s pretty cool, too.
Photography by: Erik Heck
